Brandon Whittaker
Brandon Whittaker is a psychopath appearing in Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. Story Dead Rising 2 As a CURE member, he came to Fortune City to protest against "Terror is Reality." He was a part of the protests outside the arena, and went insane after seeing his fellow CURE members being eaten alive by the very creatures they were trying to protect. He fled the bloodbath and took shelter in the men's bathroom of the Americana Casino. Chuck the Role Model At some point during his stay in his hiding place, he saw the news story about Chuck Greene releasing the zombies from the Terror is Reality Arena. His insanity led him to the conclusion that Chuck had released the zombies to stop zombie discrimination and bring peace to the world, by turning everyone into zombies therefore making everyone equal. Brandon sees this as a brilliant plan and decides to help by capturing survivors and turning them into zombies. He kidnapped a young woman named Vikki Taylor and prepared to feed her to a zombie, though it is unknown how he managed to trap the zombie, and whether he's killed other survivors in this way. When Chuck arrives at the bathroom, Brandon initially praises Chuck for his imagined plan and claims that he is trying to help. However, after Chuck saves Vikki Taylor from Brandon's zombie, Brandon claims Chuck has lost his willingness to complete the plan and attacks with a shard of broken glass. Chuck defeats Brandon and he stumbles into the stall where he has kept the zombie and is bitten. Realizing he will become a zombie, Brandon uses the piece of broken glass to slit his throat. Brandon's zombie can then be killed after the cutscene and Vikki can be saved. Non-Canon Off the Record In this alternate reality, Brandon doesn't lose his sanity as quickly as he did in Dead Rising 2. He also plays a larger role in the story as one of the game's major antagonists. Near the beginning of the game, Frank West eavesdrops on a meeting between Tyrone King and Brandon Whittaker, during which TK's men are loading packages in the background. TK reassures a nervous Brandon regarding "the plan", and gives him a bomb. Later, it is Brandon, rather than Raymond Sullivan who releases the zombies from Terror is Reality and causes "The Fortune City Outbreak." Footage of this is broadcast on TV by Rebecca Chang of Channel 6 Action News, implicating C.U.R.E. as the perpetrators of the outbreak. '"A Familiar Face"' Later, Stacey Forsythe and Frank catch a glimpse Brandon dragging a woman into the Uranus Zone public bathroom on the security cameras. Stacey immediately recognizes him as a member of C.U.R.E., which causes Frank to become suspicious of her. In response, Stacey urges him to believe her side of the story by claiming that Brandon was in fact, a new member to the group whom she had never seen until the day before the outbreak. She also speculates that Brandon could have been planted by TK to frame C.U.R.E. and do his dirty work. Frank doesn't entirely believe Stacey, and decides to confront Brandon in an attempt to discover the truth behind the outbreak. The confrontation is extremely similar to the confrontation between Brandon and Chuck in the original game; Brandon's mind has snapped from the horror of the outbreak, and he claims that he initially didn't want things to go this far, but now sees the wisdom of turning everyone into zombies to liberate them from oppression. Frank attempts to interrogate him regarding his involvement with TK, but Brandon simply rambles on about being "a soldier for the cause" before attempting to feed his hostage Vikki Taylor to a zombie. Frank intervenes, and Brandon responds by grabbing a shard of glass and using it to cut Vikki's throat, killing her (in contrast to the original game, where Vikki could be saved) before attacking Frank. After he is defeated, (just like the original game), Brandon Whittaker is bitten by the very same zombie he tried setting upon Vikki, and chooses to commit suicide rather than allow himself to become zombified. Tactics Brandon has a lot of things in his favor: He is fast, he hits hard and the bathroom is small, he can easily take an unprepared player by surprise. Brandon can be a surprisingly difficult foe for the ill-prepared player, both in equipment, and strategy. He is incredibly fast, as are his attacks. Trying to follow him as he jumps through the stalls can be disorienting, as well. It's recommended to stay near the bathroom entrance, clear of the stalls, eliminating his two major advantages: His sneak attacks, and being surprised by his speed. With the distance, you should be able to adjust to his oncoming attacks much easier. Use fast attacks (drinking a Quick Step can help you match his speed), or, if you're experienced with heavy weapons, attempt to stun him a few times with attacks, and back off. Repeat this strategy for a safe victory. thumb|282px|right One tactic is to gather at least 8 survivors whom can use weapons. By arming them with firearms, Brandon can go down with speed. Just make sure to remember that it isn't a recommended tactic, as Brandon has a chance to kill at least one or more of the survivors. If Brandon starts going into hiding and trying his sneak attacks, stand at the stall nearest to the entrance of the men's bathroom. After a while, Brandon will jump out of the second stall from you and onto a huge bloodstain, where he will be partially dazed and vulnerable. This is the time where you run up to Brandon and hit him with the heavy attack ONCE for a long weapon, like the Spiked Bat or Knife Gloves. After that, back off quickly, or you will lose health. Another tactic is to stand near the entrance away from the stalls, see above, and wait for him to charge you. Run away as he charges. When he gets close enough he'll attempt a jumping stab. If you're running away from him while he does this he'll miss and hunch over, gasping for breath. Hit him twice then back off, after you hit him he'll slash around then jump into the stalls. Rinse and repeat. This mission can run at the same time as the Run For The Money, so this can be used to your advantage. Take one of the merc assault rifles from a dead mercenary, make a Blitzkrieg from the battery and wheelchair found close to the nearby combo room, and use it against Brandon. It will make short work of him, but it starts outside the bathroom and you will likely take some damage. If you hear Brandon growl, he is either about to jump attack you or has just leaped into the stalls. You'll know which. * Using a ranged weapon will cause him to go berserk and pounce on Chuck, following up with repeated stabs. This attack is dodgeable by jumping up in the air ahead of him and will take half a block of health away, if doing this correctly. If playing on co-op, this does give your partner a chance to get some cheap hits in. * Brandon's health will not recharge in your absence, and Vikki will not take damage either. (Very likely he doesn't want to kill Vikki yet, as as long as she's alive he'll expect you to come back to save her.) You can leave the bathroom to heal up at the BBQ Shack if you must. * There's a glitch with Brandon's AI that allows you to kill him quickly. You will need a fast weapon (knife gloves or a electric guitar for example.) after he preforms his jump attack, hit him twice with the weapon (if it's too slow, forget it). After the second attack, jump away. Brandon should perform a spinning attack. You can run up and hit him ONCE, then jump away again, he should perform the same spinning attack, and he'll repeat this (as long as you run up and hit him every time he spins.) until he dies or you get hit. This tactic can kill him very quickly, even if you have low attack, he goes down very fast. However, precise timing appears to be involved. * Another potentially exploitable glitch requires the player to have ranged weapons available. After the cutscene run to the sinks with the mirrors. If you jump onto them and go to the corner he will sit in front of it staring at you. You can either shoot him or throw things at him until he dies. * If you choose to use a firearm, a shotgun is a fairly good choice. Its pellet dispersion ensures multiple hits at close range, and you can totally deplete Brandon's health with only one. A shotgun can typically be found in the hands of at least a few arena security guards, making it a convenient choice as well. * For close-in fighting, a fast weapon is strongly recommended, because of Brandon's speed and elusiveness. The Driller is an excellent choice, and the Knife Gloves will work as well. And expect to get hurt, so bring some healing items. * Another tactic is to use Quick Step in combination with the Electric Rake. Quick Step will allow you to avoid his attacks, once he jumps over the stalls go back to Vikki and attach him constantly when he jumps back over. Repeat this process to defeat him quickly. *In OTR, zombies will occasionally pop out of the bathroom stalls during the fight with Brandon Whittaker. So pay attention to your surroundings as these zombies can sometimes distract you from Brandon, who will not stop attacking even with all the zombies around. Trivia *The song that plays while fighting him is an instrumental version of "Eon" by Celldweller. *He fights similarly to Cliff Hudson in the first game, disappearing into one bathroom stall and reemerging in another where as Cliff teleports through floor openings. *Brandon's motives, while clear at first, seem to become a little blurred after he kills himself; His plan was to make everyone zombies, and yet, he ended up killing himself in order to avoid becoming one (Although it could be argued that at this point he realizes the errors of his ways and resorts to suicide, but that's kind of an apple shot). It is also possible that, as he intended to spread the zombie plague and could not do this as an actual zombie, he was just taking the "easy route" and merely did not want to be a zombie. *He is one of the psychopaths, along with one of the twins and Zhi, in the Dead Rising series that intentionally kill themselves. *He, Snowflake and Bibi are the only psychopaths that don't drop their weapon. *Brandon, TK, and Carlito are the only psychopaths that use unobtainable weapons. *When Brandon is encountered, the men's bathroom of the Americana Casino changes from a normal look to having the mirrors smashed, flickering lights and blood splattered all over the floor and stalls. The bathroom area will stay this way throughout the rest of the game even after he is defeated. *He seems to be terrified of fire, because if Chuck uses the Flamethrower on him he will panic and scream and sometimes say 'ill make you burn!' This is also a handy strategy because it interrupts his usually erratic movement, but if he jumps on you he will constantly stab you as if you used a gun on him. *Brandon's last name may be a reference to Whitaker from Left 4 Dead 2, another zombie video game. However, the two characters are very different. *He also some what resembles a bloody, and green version of Kurt Cobain with dreadlocks, Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, or Shaggy from Scooby Doo. *He also bears a striking ressemblance in voice, charisma and physique to DJ Veteran Child from Saint's Row 2. *In addition to the above, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Nathan Spencer from Bionic Commando. *During his death cutscene, after he slits his throat he seems to have the same falling animation as Slappy (Brent Ernst) when he falls next to Louise Jameson. *Brandon can be seen in a screenshot of Dead Rising 2 Off The Record talking with TK, being handed a strange brief case. (Which is revealed to be a money case). *Brandon shares some similarities with the Silent Hill character Walter Sullivan; both have the same hair style and have some blood on their right side of their faces. They both kill people and have some connection with monsters (Walter brought monsters, Brandon turns people into zombies.) and they are both mad. However, Brandon doesn't have the same clothes as Walter. *In OTR, instead of being found in the Americana, he and Vikki are found in the bathroom of the Uranus Zone. *In OTR, after the fight, the zombies (who usually eat the dead bodies after survivors die) ignore Brandon's as well as Vikki's body. *Brandon's notebook picture in OTR has no blood on him and he looks paler. his hair is a lighter shade too, though this it is typical of Chuck's picture's to have mistakes. *Despite wielding a shard of glass and his aggressive fighting style; his weapon never chips or breaks. It could be reinforced glass, but unlikely. *Brandon yells he is going to turn Chuck into a zombie during the fight, yet he fights to kill Chuck. One explanation could be he's trying to scare Chuck, or maybe the glass he wields is coated in zombie blood and he thinks it will infect Chuck if he's cut. *Brandon, Evan, Adam, and Amber are the only psychopaths in the series who are killed with their own weapons. Gallery Brandon1.png|''"Oh I see. You're losing the courage to finish what you started!"'' brandon2hq.png|''"It's so radical...it's beautiful, man."'' OTRscreen5.jpg|Brandon Whittaker with Tyrone King. PortraitBrandonWittakerDR2.png|Notebook Portrait in Dead Rising 2 PortraitBrandonWittakerOTR.png|Notebook Portrait in Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Category:Dead Rising 2 Characters Category:Dead Rising 2 Psychopaths Category:Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Characters Category:Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Psychopaths